![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Summer-17-School-Start-Costumes-081-400x533.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If I\u2019d blinked I would have missed it.<\/p>\n
As it was I heard my husband frantically calling my name, and I raced into my eldest son\u2019s bedroom, wondering what calamity had befallen us now.<\/p>\n
When my husband uses \u201cthat\u201d tone, it\u2019s usually a calamity.<\/p>\n
I rushed in to find this tableau spread out before me- my severely autistic teenager sitting on his bed, grasping my mildly autistic 10-years-old\u2019s arms, smiling and gazing up in adoration as his little brother towered over him.<\/p>\n
I stop, hold my breath, and wait to see what will unfold.<\/p>\n
I watch as my eldest child, who never really interacts with my youngest child, stands and bestows the sweetest of kisses on his sibling\u2019s lips.<\/p>\n
I smile in turn as I watch my youngest break into a huge grin and let out an \u201cawwww,\u201d clearly thrilled by the encounter.<\/p>\n
I grin through eyes welling up, thinking of the hundreds of times I\u2019ve tried to contrive this scenario, forge a connection between the two, let my youngest know his brother loves him.<\/p>\n
And I realize, that love is there. It\u2019s been there all the time. Justin may not show his bond the way we typical folks do, but he feels it too.<\/p>\n
Tonight, he\u2019s shown he loves his brother. He\u2019s made him feel seen.<\/p>\n
And I admonish myself for ever doubting this, for being sad that my youngest has asked if his brother loves him, for not being able to give him tangible proof that he does.<\/p>\n
Tonight, there is proof. There is a connection strengthened. There is one son\u2019s awe, and another\u2019s delight.<\/p>\n
And I wouldn\u2019t have missed it for the world.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
For more on my family visit my blog at autismmommytherapist.wordpress.com<\/em><\/p>\n Follow me on Facebook at Autism Mommy-Therapist<\/em><\/p>\n